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Apology for boy, 11, that pizza takeaway staff branded as the 'Ginger Kid'

A Domino's takeaway apologised yesterday after it referred to a schoolboy customer - as the 'Ginger Kid'.

Red-headed Ross Wajgtknecht, 11, visited his local branch with friends and gave his full name when ordering a Texas BBQ pizza.

But
when he came to collect his food he was horrified to discovered that
staff had written 'Ginger Kid' in place of his name on his receipt.

Ross Wajgtknecht, 11, with the receipt given to him by staff branding him the 'Ginger Kid'

His two friends, who had also ordered pizza, had their first names written on their receipts.

The boy, who is in his final year at Peasedown St John Primary School in Bath, Somerset, burst into tears.

He has endured constant bullying because of his bright red hair and his parents are 'disgusted' by the slur.

Ross said: 'I was really sad. I get bullied at school about my hair but you don't expect it from an adult.

'After I read it I couldn't stop thinking about it, and brought the packet home because I wanted to show my mum.'

Ross brought the receipt home to his parents Evette, 43, and Andrew, 45, who demanded an apology from the takeaway.

The receipt handed to Ross that caused the offence leading to an apology from the branch of Domino's

Dad Andrew, a builder, said: 'It is
totally disgusting. You would not describe someone by the colour of
their skin or by calling them fat so why is it okay to call Ross ginger?

'Surely
if they were writing his name on the receipt it would have been easier
to write Ross. That only has four letters. Why write Ginger Kid instead?

'I think they picked on him because he is just a lad and they knew he wouldn't defend himself.

'It is prejudice. There is no way this should happen from adults in a workplace.

'They offered him a free pizza but the damage has already been done and he doesn't want to go back in case it happens again.'

He
added that Ross had received taunts over his hair colour throughout his
young life and had burst into tears after being referred to as the
'Ginger Kid'.

Full-time mum
Evette added: 'He is usually quite a strong and confident lad who
doesn't let comments upset him but reading that has really knocked him.

'At
the end of the day what we want to do is raise awareness of how this
can upset people in the hope others don't single out the colour of
someone's hair like this.'

Ross
bought the pizza on May 28 from the Midsomer Norton branch of Domino's
after an afternoon at the skate park with his friends.

Manager Pat Bennet said: 'It was for the benefit of the person who took the order, it wasn't meant to cause offence.

'I have apologised to the family over the phone and the member of staff concerned has written an apology to the boy.

'We will ensure nothing like this happens again.

'A
problem we often face is children giving us fake names to confuse
orders, we often have a groups of young people come in and all give the
same name, then they get abusive if we give the wrong order to the wrong
person.'

Ross, who plays
for league-winning Peasedown St John Athletic under-11s said he took
strength from his hero, recently retired Manchester United star Paul
Scholes.

'Even
though he has retired I plan to keep having the name on the back of my
shirts.' Ross and his parents, who live in Peasedown near Bath with
their other children Toby, 20, Josh, 18 and Jack, 14, are now demanding a
full apology from Domino's head office.

My thoughts are how different Americans view redheads as opposed to (apparently) the UK and other countries. We LOVE our " gingers" stare and red headed babies , spend huge amounts of money to become redheads....

A business here( I hope) would not list someone as " cornrows " or " caffe au latte skinned"
But I know we've seen " two fat chicks" on a receipt. So I know similar things happen here.

We have names. We give them when we place an order, these young adults throwing epithets around thinking no one will notice need severe sensitivity training.., EVERYWHERE.
It's common sense to put a the NAME on an order... But sense is rather uncommon these days. People do not think.

A free pizza from the offending establishment does NOT fix odd AND blatant prejudice such as this. Nothing does

The manager is wrong in this case. His other friends had their names on their reciepts so his "explanation" of why the staff member did this isn't relevant. Some sound advice from my HR manager during a recent meeting applies "It doesn't matter what you meant or if you are joking, if someone is offended or hurt, YOU are wrong. So think before you talk"

Adults or older teens should know better. If I were the manager a disciplinary notice would go in the employee's file. That is not only bad business practice but not nice. I think gingers are beautiful. I married a ginger but have no ginger kids. People should never be judged or labeled by their appearance. We are all people. The reason the boy was sensitive is because so many have made fun of him.

My oldest is a ginger. He now uses the name as a joke and laughs off everything, but the things people say aren't nice, especially when you're young and wishing to fit in. I'm a tad biased, but I find natural redheads just beautiful. I never noticed so many as I was growing up, maybe 5 total, now they're everywhere (or I'm just noticing more)
People need to really stop labeling people, it may help with anger and violence if people were just accepting, but I'm dreaming

Quoting Momofmenagerie: My thoughts are how different Americans view redheads as opposed to (apparently) the UK and other countries. We LOVE our " gingers" stare and red headed babies , spend huge amounts of money to become redheads....

A business here( I hope) would not list someone as " cornrows " or " caffe au latte skinned"
But I know we've seen " two fat chicks" on a receipt. So I know similar things happen here.

We have names. We give them when we place an order, these young adults throwing epithets around thinking no one will notice need severe sensitivity training.., EVERYWHERE.
It's common sense to put a the NAME on an order... But sense is rather uncommon these days. People do not think.

A free pizza from the offending establishment does NOT fix odd AND blatant prejudice such as this. Nothing does

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